As the title says. I found some time this weekend to finally get the 1st ride out on the 1098. It started with a leisurely ride to a mates house across town to show off the stunning redness! That was a bad mistake as a i soon realised Ducati and town traffic is not best suited. So by the time i got there i actually thought what have i done why did i think i could go a little more exotic and why did i purchase this machine! Then i thought OK time to take it home and on doing so took a nice country B road in. Then after 45 minutes! OMG I was in love! I just did not wanna stop and go home. The sheer power and torque and overall handling felt amazing! Once i very slowly started to acclimatise myself and stopped trying to ride the 1098 like i used to ride the GSXr! It just clicks and you feel at home and at ease on the Ducati albeit a little less roomy for someone my size lol! I have also realised this bike will become a new addiction! Ultimately trying to continue to extract just a little more each time (within limits of course) and start to really enjoy owning such a machine! All i can say is i am hooked and massively pleased with the decision to go with a Duc! Forgot to add a pic!
Nice one! Just like to say.... It's not good manners to leave the side stand down when taking a picture on a paddock stand....
Less roomy than a GSXR, really? I had a GSXR1000 K4 prior to my 1098 and the 1098 is far roomier for me at 6ft 4". Fitting the superpole seat gave me more leg room too.
Pretty much mirrors my experience Neil, except the first time I rode mine was a blast out to Evesham. Thought I'd take it out somewhere where I could actually ride it. It seemed like a good plan until I came back through the traffic in the city centres, she's really not happy rattling around at 20-30 miles an hour changing gear every few seconds! But...those times when you can really ride it, it's better than a night with Rachel Riley, Er...I would imagine
@Neil Bailey @Symon Moore Since both of you mention having experienced the pain of low speed riding... I'm not sure if both your bikes are standard. However, have you considered dropping a tooth on the front sprocket (going down to 14T)? Makes a sizeable difference to the pain suffered when you inevitably get caught in traffic or have to pass through town... Doesn't make them perfect by any means but it is worth doing.
That's really interesting Ben. I've only had the bike a few weeks after 10yrs out (kids thru Uni, house moves etc) so don't know much about any sort of mods on it but I'll learn, as this one is a keeper! I've modded bikes in the past but then I was 20+ yrs younger then. Actually, I've not found it uncomfortable or painful at all to ride, it just doesn't like pootling about town at sub 30 speeds so a small sprocket change might be a seriously good idea. Cheers buddy.
+1 for getting it mapped had my 1198 done a few months back really did improve the ride ability and ive done the 14t front sprocket mod.
My pet hate this. You can't talk to someone nowadays without them adding in 'like' every other word. Back in the day we just used to pause for breath. Even worse is people typing it - they do this a lot on another forum i go on. They were talking about Love Island on GMTV (or whatever it is called now) this morning and Susanna said it's possible to play a drinking game while watching it if you take a shot every time they say 'like'. Probably end up pissed within ten minutes.
